Method of and apparatus for recording and reproducing sound



J. L. MCQUARRIE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR RECORDING AND REPRODUCING SOUND.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8. 1918.

1,383,787. Patented July 5, 1921.,

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

//7 ven for: James L M Qb/fllf/ M J. L. McQUARRlE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR RECORDING AND REP-RODUCIND SOUND.

E Patented July 5, 1921,

3-SH EETSSHEET APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1918.

J. L. McQUARRIE. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR RECORDING AND REPRODUCING SOUND.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, I918.

1,383,737; A A Patnted July 5, 1921.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- //7 en/0r: v

. James A. MQuqrr/Kg defects in the reproduced sound arising.

fective.

JAMES L. MOQUAJRRIE, or MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, assmn'oa T0 STERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, mconronarnn, ornnw roan, n. Y.,- A. con-roam arrow or NEW YORK.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REPRODUCING SOUND.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JAMES L. MGQUARRIE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Montclair, in the county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Sound, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to sound-recording and reproduction and especially to the control thereof for the purposeof eliminating from the limited range ofaccurate' responsiveness'to sound vibrations or reproducing impulses characterizing recording and re producing mechanisms now in use.-

If a diaphragm, such as is used in sound recording and reproducing mechanism in connection with phonographs and the like, is of the requisite degree of sensitiveness to respond most effectively to impulses from a sound source or from record actuated means when such impulses'are'of a selected intensity, its response/when these impulses are of a widely different intensity, is apt to be de- Such defective response may also i follow from the inability. of the mechanism associated with the diaphragm for actuating" it or for actuation thereby to transmit aecurately impulses of w-1dely difiierent amplrtudes. I

The present invention is designed to overcome this defectby selectively supplementing the response of the diaphragm. to the im'- pulses to which it is subject and this 1s ac-' complished by arranging for varying the sensitiveness of the diaphragm upon the occurrence of impulses which differ greatly in strength from those impulses for which, the

diaphragm and associated mechanism are adjusted. -Either the recording or the re producing diaphragm may be so controlled.

Several forms ofapparatus involving the employment ofthis invention are shown diagrammatically in the accompanying draw-' ings', in which Figure l i-llustrates an ap-.

' par'atusforflproducingrecordsof the peri similar arrangement, for producing recordspendicularly undulating-"type, in which the responsiveness of the diaphragm actuating the recording .stylus-ismodified by a manually controlled device. "F g. 2 illustrates a of the laterally undulating type. Figs. 3

Specification of Letters Patent.

4:. show arrangements similar to Figs. 1 and 2, except that the modifying device is atented July 5, 19211.. Application filed January 8, 1918. Serial No. 210,847. 7 I

automatically controlled'by the stylusactw atl'ng diaphragm.- Fig. 5 shows a'perpendicularly undulating record typeof. recording apparatus equipped with a manually controlled auxiliary stylus forcuttin plementary record. Figs. 6 and show modifications of theforms shown in Fig. 5 inwhich the auxiliary stylus is automatically controlled. Fig. 8'shows reproducing mechanism with which records formed by the apparatus in Figs. 5,6 to 7, can be used,

a sup f.

Figs. 9 and 10 show, respectively, recording 1 and reproducing apparatus for laterally un-Y I dulating records in which a supplementary amplitude record is formed. Figs. 11, 12 and 12 show recording and reproducing apparatus for perpendicularly undulating records in which the groove containing the principal record undulates laterally to form the supplementary record. Figs. 13 and=14 show a corresponding apparatus for records in which the principal record undulates laterally and the supplementary record undulates perpendicularly.

phragm l, which is sensitive to-all sound vibrations desired to .be recorded, is mounted Y so In theapparatus shown in Fig. ,1 the dia stylus 5 and having its other end sh connected or otherwise related to thediaphragm 1 as to cause .the carrier to vibrate therewith,

whereby the stylus 5 cuts a hill and valley,

that is, a perpendicularly undulating,-record on the rotating cylinder A. Associated with the diaphragm is the damping member 7, carried on pivotedanmature 8 of the electromagnet 9, the electric circuit of which comprises a battery 10fai1d manually variable resistance 21.: By this means the attendant in charge of the recording apparatus, may, by inserting or removmg resistance, vary the pressure of the "damping device 7 against the diaphragm 1 .and thus selectivelyv supplement the respon's-ef of the diaphragm to impinging sound ,vibrations 'of diflere'nt amplitudes. The armature -=1 8 and the damping member? may be held in balanced position by means of spring 12.ad--' justed so as to aid the electromagnet in bolding the damping member 7 against the diaphragm with the proper degree of pressure.

type.

Figs. 3 and 4 show modifications of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respec- -tively, in. which the current for the electrofmagnet is automatically varied .by means of V tus.

a microphone button 14% or the like, mounted in a bridge 15 in the diaphragm support 2 and having one of its electrodes connected with the diaphragm 1 so as to vibrate therewith. It is therefore apparent that, with this arrangement, as the diaphragm 1 vibrates in response to sounds of different degrees of loudness, the pressure in the microphone button lt will vary, and as thefpull of the electromagnet on its armature Sfwill correspondingly vary, the damping 'efiect of the member 7 will be automatically adjusted so as to prevent chattering of the diaphragm when the sound vibrations to be recorded are of considerable amplitude and yet will not interfere with the sensitiveness of the diaphragm when the sound vibrations are of small amplitude. Thus. the supplementing of the response of the dia-' phragm to selected sound vibrations is automatically controlled.

The records made by the apparatus in Figs. 1 to 4 are suitable for use in present well-known forms of reproducing appara- Figs. 5 to 14 illustrate several variations 7 of a type of arrangement in which the diaphragm of the reproducing apparatus is damped, the diaphragm of the recording apparatus being undamped. The damping of the reproducing diaphragm is determined by selective mechanism operating in connection with the recording diaphragm, as follows: The sound vibrations are caused to form two records, a principal record which is of one of the present well-known types in which all of the sound vibrations to which the recording diaphragm is responsive are recorded as they occur, and a supplementary record of the occurrence of sound vibrations which are of such amplitude that it is desirable, during their re production, to modify the responsiveness of the reproducing diaphragm, as by damping. The prlncipal and supplementary records may form separate grooves or may be combined in one compound groove.

Figs.- 5 to 8 refer to a perpendicularly undulating record type of apparatus in which the principal and supplementary recordsare formed by separate styli in separate grooves. Diaphragm 1, responding to the sound vlbratlons reachlng 1t, controls the sound vibrations.

formation of the principal record in the usual way by means of the pivoted carrier t and the stylus 5. A supplementary record is cut by the auxiliary stylus 16 carried on one end of the pivoted auxiliary carrier 17, at the other end'of which is'mounted the armature 18 of the electromagnet 19, the carrier, stylus and armature being resiliently held in balanced position by the spring 20. T he depth of the supplementary'groove cut by stylus 16 may obviously be varied by varying the current in the winding of the electromagnet. The varying of this-current upon the occurrence of sounds of a selected charac'te'r thus supplements the response of the diaphragm 1 and stylus 5 to impinging In Fig. 5, the current, and therefore thedepth of the supplementary groove, is controlled by means of a rheostat 21 manually adjustable by the attendant upon the' occurrence of sounds whose reproduction it is desired to modify. As in the case of Fig. 1, other manually controlled actuating means may be substituted for the electromagnetic and rheostat.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, the

manually controlled resistance is replaced by r microphone button 22 or the like carried by a bridge 23 mounted in the support 2 1 of .the auxiliary diaphragm 25, towhich one electrode of the microphone is connected. The diaphragm 25 may be of a different. degree of sensitiveness from the diaphragm .1. Fig. 7 illustrates a modification in which the microphone button 22 is mounted in the support 2 and connected to the diaphragm 1 which controls. the principal stylus 5.

In the forms shown in Figs. 6-and7, the depth of the groove cut by the auxiliary stylus 16', will bevaried when the sound vibrations become of such amplitude as to produce a change in the resistance of the microphone 22 sufficient to cause the electromagnet to move its armature 18. The re sponsiveness of the auxiliary recording mechanism, and therefore the scope and exactness of the auxiliary record, is determined by the -strength of the spring 20, the weight ofthe auxiliary stylus carrier and magnet, and the electric and magnetic characteristics of the electromagnet and its microphone.

, Reproducing apparatus for records made by the recording apparatus in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 is shown in Fig. 8, in which 31 is a sensi- 31. The principal sound record, operating through'the medium of stylus 35 and armaing' device 38 is brought into operation at the same time as the diaphragm is subjected to the actuating impulses corresponding. to

such sounds, the relative positions of thestyli 35 and 36 being properly chosen for this effect.

' In the modification shown in Fig. 9, the main diaphragm 1 in the support 2 controls the principal stylus carrier 44 which carries the recording stylus 46 arranged to form a zig-zag or laterally undulating principal. record on the disk B, and the auxiliary stylus 45 is carried by one end of the lever 47, on the other end of which is the armature 48 of the el-ectromagnet 49. The at traction of the electromagnet for it s armature 48 is controlled through the microphone 22 and auxiliary diaphragm 25 by variations in the amplitude of the vibrations to be recorded in the same way as described 'in connection with Fig. 6. If desired, the

microphone elementmay be connected to the main diaphragm as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 7, or may be replaced by a. manually controlled rheostat as in Fig. 5. The double record formed by the apparatus in Fig. 9.

essentially differs from the double record formed by the apparatus in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, only in being laterally undulating instead of perpendicularly undulating. The reproducing apparatus in Fig. 10 is designed'for use with such a laterally undulating double record; the diaphragm 31 is caused to vibrate by means of the carrier 52 on which is mounted the principal stylus 53 which runs in the grooves forming the main record.

The pivoted lever 54 carries at one end the auxiliary stylus 55', which runs in the supplementa'ry groove, and at the other'end the damping element56.

The modifications illustrated in Figs. 11 to 14 involve the use of a single recording or reproducing stylus for both the principal and the auxiliary record.

In the recording apparatus shown in F i'g. 11, the diaphragm 1 is operatively connected to the pivoted tube 63 through which rotatably extends the rod 64 carrying at one end the-groove cutting stylus 65 and at its other end the armature 68 of the electromagnet 69. The attraction of the electromagnet 69 for its armature 68 is caused to vary upon the occurrence of sound vibrations of more than a predetermined amplitude,.in the same way as set forth in the description of Fig- 6. It will therefore be seen that under the.

cause it to cut in the cylinderA a groove whose varying depth'provides aperpendicularly undulating principal record of the sound vibrations, while the movement of the] armature 68, resulting from a considerable variation in the amplitude of the sound vibrations, rotates the rod 64 about its longi-. tudinal axis whereby the groove-cut by the stylus 65, is caused to vary in direction and thus affords anauxiliary laterally undulating record. Figs. 12 and 12 show a reproducing apparatus for this single groove record. As the groove in the rotating cylinder A varies in depth re )roducing stylus 7 5 moves up and down an causes'the hollow leverz' r' 3 to vibrate about its pivot, producing corresponding vibrations in the reproducing diaphragm 31, while by reason of the zigzagging of the groove thestylus 7 5 moves .from side to side, rotating the rod'74 and bringing the damping element 79 into appropriate relation with the diaphragm 1.

In the modified compound groove record ing apparatusshown in Fig. 13, a pivoted link 83 pivotally supports the carrier 84 for the recording stylus 85. The upper end of the carrier 84 is'connected. by a link 86 to v one end of pivoted lever 87, the other end of which carries armature 88 of clectromagnet 89, the strength or the current of this electromagnct being controlled by a microphone 22 connected to the recording diaphragm 1, as in Figs. 7 and 11. As the diaphragm 1 vibrates'in response to sound vibrations carrier 84 is caused to vibrate about its pivot-a1,

connection with the link 83 and thereby 5 guides the stylus 85 so that-the latter will cut a laterally undulating record groove in disk B. The vibration of diaphragm 1 in response to considerable variations in the amplitude of the sound vibrations values the resistance of the microphone 22 suiiiciently to cause the electromagnet 89 to move its armature 88 and to raise and lower the car- -rier 84, such movement being permitted by the link 86, whereby the groove cut by stylus 85 varies in depth and provides a supplementary record of .the hill and valley or groove causes the stylus 95 to vibrate lat 'erally and its carrier 94 to oscillate about its pivotal connection 'with' the pivotal link. 93 which causes diaphragm 31 to vibrate and produce sound vibrations. Variations in the depth of the record groove cause stylus 95 and its carrier 94 to rise' and fall and through the medium of the link 97 to vary the relation to the diaphragm 31 of the damping device 9.8 on the bell crank lever 99.

If desired, the manually controlled rheostat of Fig. 6 may be substituted for the microphone shown in Figs. 11 and 13.

It is to be understood. that in commercial embodiment of the'invention' there will be included such accessorv devices as those,

skilled in the arts involved may find essential to its completely satisfactory operation under different conditions of use.

What is claimed is 1. The method of forming sound records which consists in subjecting a sound responsive recording mechanism to sound vibrations to be recorded and reducingthe sensitiveness of said recording mechanism upon the occurrence of sound vibrations exceeding a predetermined amplitude.

2; The method of forming sound records which consists in subjecting a sound responsive recording mechanism to sound vibrations to be recorded and reducing the sensi} tiveness of said recording mechanism upon the occurrence of sound vibrations exceeding a'predetermined amplitude by means of said vibrations.

3. The method of forming sound records which consists in causing the sound vibrations to form a principal sound record upon a record receiving member and forming in conjunction therewith a supplementary record upon such record receiving member indicating the occurrence of sound vibrations of a selected character.

4. The method of forming sound records which consists in causing the sound vibrations to form a principal sound record and manually forming in conjunction therewith a supplementary record indicating the occurrence of sound vibrations of a selected character. V

5; The method of sound recording which consists in causing the sound vibrations to form a principal sound record upon a record receiving member and to tornr in conjunction therewith a supplementary record upon such record receiving member indicating the occurrence of vibrations of a selected char acter.

6. The method of'sound recording and re production, which consists in causing the sound vibrations to form simultaneously a. principal sound record, and a supplementary record indicating the occurrence oi? vibrations of a specific character, and modifying the reproducing effect of said first.

named record by means of said second named record.

7. The method of sound recording and reproduction which consists in causing the sound vibrations to form a principal sound record and "forming in. conjunction therewith a supplementary record of vibrations original sound vibrations to form two associated records of different'scope and moditying the 1'ep1'o'clucingetfect of one of said records by means of the other record.

9. The method of sound reproduction which consists in subjecting a sound reproducing mechanism to the action of a record to be reproduced and in automatically varying the sensitivencss of the -reproducing mechanism in accordance with selected variationsin the amplitude of the sounds to be reproduced.

10. The method of sound reproduction.

which consists in subjecting a sound reproducing mechanism to the action of a record to be reproduced and in automatically reducing the sensitivencss of the reproducing mechanism when the actuating impulses imparted to such reproducing mechanism by such record exceed tude.

11. In sound recording apparatus, a diaphragm responsive to sound vibrations, means tordamping the vibrations of said diaphragm, and means responsive to vibra tions of predetermined amplitudes for operating said damping means.

12. In sound recording apparatus, a record receiving member, a pair of record forming members, a sound sensitive diaphragm for causing one record formingmember to Vibrate in accordance with the sound vibrations to be recorded to form a record upon the record receiving member, and auxiliary means for controlling the other recordforming member to form asupplementary record upon the record receiving member.

13. In sound recording apparatus, a record receiving member, a pair of record forming members, a sound sensitive diaphragm for causing one record forming member to a predetermined amplivibrate in accordance with the sound vibra tions to be recorded to form a record upon the record receiving member, and auxiliary means for controlling the other record-- comprising means operable by the record formed by said first named means, other means operable by the record formed by said second named means, and a sound emitting clement controlled by both of said last named means.

15. I11 sound recording and reproducing apparatus, a principal record forming mechanism, a record actuated mechanism, means associated with said record forming mechanism for producing, in conjunction with the principal record, a supplementary record indi *ating' the occurrence of sound vibrations of predetermined amplitudes, a damping device associated with said record actuated mechanism, and aneans actuated by said supplementary record for controlling said damping device.

16. In sound recording and reproducing apparatus in combination, means responsive to sound vibrations for forming two associated records of diiferent scope and record operable ;means comprising a sound producing member controlled by one of said records, and means controlled by said other record for modifying the operation of said sound producing member.

17-. In sound reproducing apparatus in combination, a vibratable diaphragm, record actuated means for vibrating said diaphragm, and record controlled means for varying the responsiveness of said diaphrag In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29th day of December,,A. D. 1917.

JAMES L. MQQUARRIE. 

